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Is my religion all in my head?
a step into neuroscience, faith, and non-dualistic thinking
As I have written here before, I have been in a program that trains spiritual directors through the Shalem Institute, and currently find myself working on my final paper for the program, a subject of my choosing, . . . on neuroscience and spiritual direction.
As for the program itself, there is a good bit of writing and reflection, in addition to practical experiences of having several “directees”, hours of time in “peer supervision”, and of course, lots and lots of reading in the Christian spiritual classics such as John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Brother Lawrence, Quakers and Baptists, and some more modern writers too.
Yet … I am also a clinician, working in outpatient mental health.
And with that training and continuing education, I am also aware of how the brain functions, that there are biochemical processes, order and disorder, that can affect our mood, our perspective, our feelings, and our religious life too.
I like to think that I can hold both of these together; in reality, I find myself feeling as if I am being…
